I often forget that I believe in magic, but my trips to Anam Cara remind me that I do. And the magic has happened again. Now that I am home and looking back on it all, I can’t believe how much happened in just one too-short week. It begins with Sue Booth-Forbes herself, the wonderfully insightful, generous, warm and open person who has developed this retreat as her life’s great creation. There is an aura of possibility about the place and it’s almost impossible to come away feeling anything other than empowered and encouraged.
Then there are the residents. This time a mixture of old friends and new. This week was always planned as a reunion of writers who first met there one year ago — myself, the novelist Kate Beswick, and the fiction/poetry writer Vanessa Gebbie. One year ago, we were all struggling either to finish our books or discover what publication was all about. Now, Vanessa and I arrived having survived our “promotional” years, and on Friday we had a champagne celebration of the honest-to-goodness completion of Kate’s outstanding novel about Russian emigrees and activists in Paris during the time of the Revolution. This is a novel, and a writer, you will undoubtedly be hearing a lot about in the months to come! It was wonderful spending time with them again, this time coming together as old, trusted friends, eager to help and be helped by each other. These sorts of friendships are one of the main gifts that Anam Cara bestows on its residents. But there were two other residents there, as well. Although we only overlapped for one night, I met an Australian actress/teacher/writer called Niki with whom I had a surprising amount in common. She left with a copy of my poetry play, Dreams of May, and a determination to try to produce in Melbourne. How exciting would that be! And then Jill arrived, who was working on her Masters Thesis in Art Therapy and the Meaning of Change. She leant a fascinating perspective on our work and our lives in writing. Yet another new friend.
Within this framework of support and friendship, I regained my sense of myself as a writer — something I had been struggling to hold on to while promoting Tangled Roots and then producing Sh*t-M*x. Diving headfirst into my new novel, I found myself falling in love (finally) with my characters, putting aside the “big ideas” I am trying to examine within the book, and living the characters’ experiences along with them — experiences which portray and unearth the ideas underlying their lives. In other words, I stopped writing with my head, and started writing again with my heart. In 7 days I wrote over 12,000 words, completing one chapter and beginning another and knowing, that if I had stayed one more week, the first draft of novel 2 would have been completed.
In between these intense bouts of writing and discovery, I walked and walked, visited the rock formation called “The Hag of Beara,” had my stones read by the local mystic, communed with cows and sheep and chickens and ducks and Jack-the-wonder-dog. Oh, and I also ate much too much.
Now I’m home and hoping that I can keep my writing brain in Ireland even though the rest of me is back in London. And why not? I believe in magic.
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And now for 2 quick plugs:
1) I’m thrilled to say the December 2008 issue of “Writing Magazine” features your own Sue Guiney as the “New Author Profile”. Page 40, complete with a not-bad photo of me and my book cover plus a handy box of “Sue’s Top Tips”
2) Check back on Tuesday for my hosting of Tania Hershman’s virtual book tour where we’ll discuss her short story collection The White Road, and lots of other interesting things.
Welcome back, Sue. I’m so glad you had a magical time. Congratulations on being included in Writing Magazine!
Oh it sounds as though you had a wonderful time. I’m so pleased. I’m off for my own ‘retreat’ tomorrow to Khorat, while my children go away with school on their residentials! I can only hope to be so prolific.
PS. I already spotted you in Writing magazine! It IS a lovely picture.
Just climbed out of the airing cupboard that i seem to have been trapped in for the last week or so! A writing retreat in Ireland?!!!! I want to go, now! Right now! What did your stones say? And who gave that man in the lLovin’ Spoonful an Autoharp?
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Hi Sue – thanks for the plug! You are so right about the magic of anam cara! You’ve included it all – and the highlights are the people one meets, the privilege of sharing all that talent and energy – my thanks to you for that – and yes, your new book is going to be even better than the first one – the stones speak truth!!
Hi Kate! Hi! Hi! Hi! And as they say, from your lips to….xo
That does sound like a magical place…I’m so glad that you got to spend time with like minded people….I think that creative support is very important!!
Am already looking forward to reading the new novel 🙂
C x
It sounds like a wonderful time. I am glad that you are moving forward with your novel as I am impatiently waiting to read it.
So glad you had such an enriching week – it really does sound like a magical place.